So as a precaution, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, returned the ship to Earth.
It sent another, empty one – which meant there would be room for Rubio and company to return, but they would have to pick up the mission assigned to the crew that was originally supposed to be on that other ship.
“The fact that I was going to spend an entire year cooped up at home was kind of torture for me, because I love being outside,” Rubio said.
“But that’s part of the mission. It took a little bit of a mental shift and saying, ‘Hey, this is my world for the next 12 months and I have to deal with it.'”
But this audacity allowed this son of Salvadoran immigrants to achieve the record for the longest stay by an American in space, beating the 2022 record held by Mark Vande Hei of 355 consecutive days.